Last days in Prague

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Last days in Prague

Happy Easter!! Well the good news is that the Easter bunny is alive and well in Prague and the girls woke up to find all sorts of chocolate delights ready and waiting for Dad to devour! Ahh but first one has to earn their little rewards and it was time to pull on the running shoes, rug up with the thermals and head out for our Czech version of boot camp.

Nik and I headed off for a run, quite early in the morning and it was a tad cold to say the least. Pretty neat being able to run along the river and up through a castle and then back through the old town area. Pretty memorable run I have to say, all the time being spurned on by the words of Mick Ainsworth; “Mate you will never keep your fitness up while you’re away”. Nik was a bit concerned that after having done our run we would then spend the rest of the day walking again but it was worth it, especially when there was the prize of all that chocolate in our apartment when we got back.

We headed out for more sightseeing and went to the top of the astronomical clock which is on top of the old town hall in the old town square…. starting to sound a bit like a nursery rhyme isn’t it. Fortunately there is a lift that goes some way up the top of the tower but there is still quite a hike to get to the very top. The views of the old town are worth it once you get there, especially for Debs who has to overcome her morbid fear of heights to be able to get up such structures.

Prague was packed with people on Easter Sunday and there were literally hundreds of people waiting on the hour to see the astronomical clock do its thing. The clock was built around 1490 and rather than fill the blog with all sorts of fascinating data about the clock, just type in astronomical clock in Google and head to the wikipedia link and you will see why we were so fascinated by it.

Even though the place is packed it is incredible how everyone is in such a relaxed and cruizee mood, no one gets hassled or flustered in the crowds and people are very polite and mindful of each other and I think that sums up the areas of Prague we have been to so far.

Debs and Nik were very keen to find the Globe Book Store and coffee shop as her sister Mandy and Niece Heidi had spent many an enjoyable hour there so we headed off on one of Debs magical mystery tours to find it. Didn’t matter that we didn’t have a guide book or a map, Debs had an idea where it was and lo and behold she found it. Pretty cool place is the Globe Book Store and Layni found a beautiful book on Czech Fairy tales which of course the walking A.T.M machine was conned and cajoled into buying for her. It really is a beautiful book and one I am sure she will delight in sharing with her classmates when she gets home.

Layni’s day of treats didn’t stop there and a little while later we bought her a little bohemian crystal teddy bear set which we hope will make it home in once piece. Crystal is sold everywhere in Prague and whilst some is not of our liking, there are some stunning wine glass sets that would sit beautifully on our dining table, only problem is we just don’t have the space, maybe next time. Debs and the girls opted for a bit of mod shopping and headed for the Palladium shopping centre and I went back to the apartment for a coffee and Czech schnapps called Becherovka. Slavek told me it had magical powers so I had to try it and he’s right, it has turned me into Ernest Hemingway!

Easter Monday was deemed journal day and the girls spent the morning catching up on their journals and pasting in memoirs of the preceding days. I think they consider the journals a bit of a slog at times but hopefully they will read them in years to come and it will bring back lots of great memories for them. When Debs and I did our rather crazy push bike tour around Europe for our honeymoon we kept a very detailed journal and still brings incredible memories back when we flick open a page every now and again. I still shake my head in wonder sometimes at what we did and how far we managed to get on the little we had.

We decided that the Little Quarter was going to be today’s destination so that’s where we headed. This is the area down below the Castle and one we had not explored before. Quite different to other parts of the old town area as it is much quieter with very few tourists around. We had a great time just wandering along the river and through the streets, finding the odd playground for the kids to make the most of. We caught a cable car up to the top of the hill overlooking the old part of Prague and climbed a small version of the Eiffel Tower which was built and placed on site about the time the real Eiffel Tower was built in Paris. Again, Debsy forced herself past her fear of heights and got to the top. It gives a totally different perspective of greater Prague and the way the Czech’s live here. Lots and lots of very big apartment blocks on the outskirts are in stark contrast to the up market art deco apartment blocks in the old town selling for millions of dollars each.

We met Assel Karasheva on the cable car. Assel is the Director of the Biodiversity Conservation Fund of Kazakhstan, working in conjunction with the United Nations and it was one of those great moments in travelling where you meet someone from far away who lives life so incredibly different to what we do. We spent some time wandering around and talking to her. Assel was an incredibly nice lady and we were all fascinated to hear about her country. Nik was very taken with her invitation to come to Kazakhstan to try out their ski fields and with winter temperatures of minus 30’C I am not surprised they have lots of snow. Nik was also curious to find out if Assel had seen Borat but we thought that might be a question better left than asked. Who knows, Kazakhstan might be on our next ski holiday radar, better start learning some Russian now though.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering down from the tower back into the Little Quarter and back to the Charles Bridge. Now for your history lesson; the Charles Bridge is a famous historical bridge that crosses the Vltava river which runs through the centre of Prague. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of 15th century. As the only means of crossing the river, the Charles Bridge used to be the most important connection between the Old Town, Prague Castle and adjacent areas until 1841. Also this 'solid-land' connection made Prague important as a trade route between east and west Europe.

The bridge is 516 meters long and nearly 10 meters wide, resting on 16 arches shielded by ice guards. It is protected by three bridge towers, two of them on the Lesser Quarter side and the third one on the Old Town side. The Old Town bridge tower is often considered to be one of the most astonishing civil gothic-style buildings in the world. The bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 statues and statuaries, most of them baroque-style, erected around 1700. St John was thrown to his death from the Bridge and there is a statue erected in his memory and honour and queues of people line up to touch parts of the statue so being the diligent travellers that we are we did what all the other punters were doing and had a little touch, don’t know if it for good luck or whatever but it was done.

The kids hadn’t had their obligatory crepe for the day so it was back to the old town square for their last nutella crepe from the best creperie in Prague. We were very lucky that we were here at Easter time as Easter and Christmas are the only times that the market stalls are set up in the Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square. They also make and sell a type of pastry that is rolled around metal tubes and grilled over open coals before being dusted in cinnamon and sugar. They are called Trdlo’s and Debs developed a bit of a taste for them. Despite being heavily tempted for more baked ham, had to resist because Debs and I had planned to go out for dinner to a nice restaurant that is run by a Czech guy who they align with Jamie Oliver and whose restaurant is just next door to our apartment. We took the girls for an early dinner and then Debs and I had some ‘quality time’ together over dinner. The meal was very good and exceptionally good value, with cocktails, entrée, main with a glass of wine and desert all adding up to about $70.00, maybe rubbing the statue does work!!
It is now Tuesday morning Prague time and we are getting ready to go to the train station to head over to Germany.

All being well we will blog from a new city in a new country in the near future. Thanks heaps for all of your messages and keeping in touch, we love hearing from you all. If you need to text us for any reason, just send a text to [phone], it won’t cost any more than a normal text.

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Photos

View from the top of the Astronimical Clock Tower
Looking down into the markets of the Old Town Square

Our new friend from Kazakhstan
Assel from Kazakhstan

A religious moment
The statue of St John

Comments

[Lizzy Paterson]

Life back in Aus.
Hi guys, Sounds like you are having an absolute ball. Enjoying the photos. Looks a tad chilly in some!! We had a lovely Easter, just stayed at home, but, the weather was superb. Surfed everyday and really had a relaxing time. Last weekend 29-31 March had a huge w'end down at Gloucester Tops on a friends property with about 80 other old Sydney friends. The occasion was to celebrate several of those people turning 50! Needless to say it was big, but so good to catch up with everyone. Thank goodness Dave and I were a little more sensible than usual and stopped drinking early enough that we felt pretty good for the car trip home. I woke with a bit of a sore throat though - could it have had anything to do with singing do you think Alsie? Take care guys, and keep the blogs coming. Lots of love Liz xx